


Nightwolves and Two-Leggers

by casesandcapitals



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Blood, Fluff, M/M, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-02
Packaged: 2018-01-14 09:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1261648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casesandcapitals/pseuds/casesandcapitals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Frank and Gerard were old enough to leave the pack, they choose to remain wolves and live in the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

They tumble together just as dawn lightens the edge of the sky. Gerard bites Frank's neck, holding him down for a moment before easing off. Frank leans up and licks at Gerard's muzzle, trying to get more attention from him, but Gerard is busy staring at the horizon.  
He steps away from Frank and Frank immediately rolls over and gets to his paws, following. Their den is close by so it only takes them a moment to reach it, even with sleepy steps.  
Gerard makes Frank go in first, then follows close behind. The tunnels are big enough for wolves to walk though, or humans to crawl through. It took them weeks to dig the whole thing out, both with claws and human hands, and even longer to decorate it to both of their satisfactions. The tunnel leading to their nest has shells stuck in the dirt walls that they collected when they went to the beach a long time ago.  
Their nest is made up of dried grass and stolen blankets. On the other side of the room is a pile of human clothing they've stolen from the drying lines of humans who've built their dens near the woods.  
Frank collapses into the indentation in the center of their nest, leaving enough room for Gerard to crawl in and curl up next to him. Frank squirms around to set his head on top of Gerard's, which makes Gerard huff in annoyance. He doesn't move or reprimand Frank though, so Frank shuts his eyes happily.  
He feels the pull of the sun, like every morning, tugging at him and telling him to turn into his two-legger form, but he ignores it like he always does and drifts off to sleep.

When he wakes up, Frank's stomach growls in hunger, so he wriggles to his feet and shakes his fur out. Gerard is still sleeping, so Frank crawls halfway back into the nest and licks at his face.  
Gerard growls sleepily and Frank barks. Gerard growls again, deeper, but stops when Frank's stomach rumbles again.  
Gerard peeks one golden eye open and looks at Frank with an expression that clearly says _really?_  
Frank huffs at him. He did a lot of running last night, it's not his fault he's hungry again.  
Gerard shuts his eye and looks ready to fall asleep again, so Frank jumps a little, pawing at the blankets. He doesn't get a response, so he barks.  
Gerard ignores him again, so Frank turns and makes to leave the den. He stops when he hears Gerard's growl. He grins toothily at the tunnel before schooling his features and turning back around.  
He knows better than to think Gerard would ever let him go hunting alone, so it's no surprise to see Gerard getting out of their nest and padding over to him. Frank lets Gerard push him to the dirt floor and bite around his muzzle, not putting up a fight because he knows it's just a gentle scolding. Frank knows Gerard likes it when Frank acts up sometimes, but he would never admit it. Just like Frank would never admit that he likes Gerard putting him in his place sometimes, too.  
Gerard holds him for a moment then lets him up and they head for the opening of the den. Gerard pees near the entrance, a fresh marking in case anyone should wander by, and then they leave, slow-trotting turning into full out running by the time the sun is truly set.  
Frank _loves_ hunting. At least, he loves hunting with Gerard. He remembers when he was a pup and he wondered aloud about the fairness of killing prey. His mom had sat him down and explained to him about the cycle of nature and how when wolves die, they become one with the ground and feed the earth so that the plants can grow. The rabbits and deer and other prey eat the grass and grow big, and in turn feed the wolves.  
"Wolves can't eat grass, just like prey can't eat wolves," she told him. Frank had grimaced and thought about the time he tried eating leaves from a bush and had spent the rest of the night vomiting. "We eat prey, like we're supposed to, and prey eats plants like they're supposed to."  
So now Frank doesn't think about the sharp scent of fear he can smell on his prey, he just silently thanks them and promises that he'll become really tasty grass one day.  
They chase rabbits who strayed too far from their burrows, eventually catching them and eating under the moonlight.  
Gerard licks blood from Frank's fur afterwards, and Frank returns the favor. They find a clearing nearby to lay in while they digest, and curl up together, watching the sky.  
Frank always feels better when the moon is at it's fullest. It's when the pull of his two-legger form is the most weak. He turned once during the full moon phase and felt nauseous all day. He doesn't do that anymore.  
It's when there's no moon at all in the sky that his body most wants to have two legs. They change sometimes, him and Gerard, and sleep the day away in their nest, curled around each other's naked two-legger forms.  
Frank is small for a wolf his age, and his two-legger form is small as well. Gerard is a perfect size for a wolf or a two-legger, at least, in Frank's opinion.  
When Gerard is a wolf he's big and strong, fast and beautiful. On two legs he's soft and warm, with pointed features that don't translate to his wolf face.  
Frank as a wolf is sleek and quiet, with dark brown fur that makes it easy for him to sneak around in shadows. He's louder when he's on two legs, because it's harder to burn off excess energy in that form. He still likes to run and play and hide in shadows when he's a two-legger, but it's harder to do. The ground hurts his hands like it doesn't hurt his paws, and passing tree branches scratch him where they would normally just brush against his fur.  
All-in-all, Frank likes being a wolf better, and that's why him and Gerard chose to dig a den rather than build an above-ground home, like some of their old pack mates.  
He tries not to whine out loud when he thinks about Mikey and Ray, who chose to be two-leggers rather than stay with the pack. Gerard doesn't like to talk about his brother and his brother's mate, and he'll know if Frank is thinking about it. Frank's always been told that his body language is an open book for anyone to read.  
He decides to think about something else instead, and looks up at the stars, trying to count them. He doesn't know too many numbers but he mentally recites all the ones he does know, even if he's sure he's missing some, or they're not in the right order.  
Eventually Gerard shuffles and gets to his feet. Frank stays in the matted grass for a moment longer, still watching the stars, until Gerard pounces on him.  
Gerard rarely starts their play, so Frank immediately jumps up and pounces back, delighted. He slaps his front paws against the ground and growls. Gerard leaps forward and tackles him. He doesn't pin him, so Frank knows it's okay for him to fight his way back to his feet.  
Gerard is too strong to be pinned, but that doesn't mean Frank doesn't try. Gerard's back barely touches the matted grass before he's back up and closing his jaws in Frank's scruff, pulling him down. Frank goes easily and Gerard licks the fur around his neck before letting him up.  
He takes off into the woods and Frank barks cheerfully as he gives chase. They run almost all the way back to their den, with brief pauses for wrestling matches, but once they get close Gerard freezes.  
The scent hits Frank's nose a split second later and he goes still as well, hackles on his back raising to make himself look bigger.  
Blood. He can smell blood, and it's really close by.  
He glances at Gerard as the bigger wolf eases a paw forward. If it's a bear or another large animal, they need to chase it away from their den, but if it's prey that's injured, they need to kill it so it doesn't track the scent of blood toward their home. That would just be inviting danger.  
Gerard continues forward slowly, scenting the air, searching for the source. When the breeze shifts and it becomes obvious that the scent is coming from the direction of their den, they both trot forward cautiously.  
Frank breaks away from Gerard to circle around the opposite side of their den and they both break into the small clearing at the same time.  
What they find stops Frank short again.  
It's _Ray_. But not just that, it's Ray in _wolf form_ , curled up outside the entrance to their home and _bleeding_.  
Frank rushes forward, letting Gerard stay back and keep an eye out for whatever danger hurt Ray.  
When Frank is near enough to nose at Ray's fur, the red-brown wolf barks then whines. It takes him a moment to recognize Frank, but when he does he rolls onto his side and stretches out his right forepaw.  
There's shiny metal wire wrapped around his leg, cutting into the flesh and making him bleed. Frank sniffs at it and it smells like humans. He whines in confusion but licks at Ray's wound anyway.  
Ray sets his big head back on the ground tiredly and lets Frank clean his wound until the horizon starts to lighten.  
Frank looks over at Gerard, who is still keeping watch. Gerard shuffles forward and whines uncharacteristically. Frank knows what that means. They have to change into their two-legger form, and Gerard hates it when Frank gets sick.  
Frank tries to prepare for the gross feeling of being in his other form when the moon is full, and starts the shift. It hurts a little, but not as much as it obviously hurts Ray. His whining and growling turns into sobbing and cursing soon enough.  
Gerard comes closer, already standing on his two legs. It always takes Frank a while to get his balance right, and this time is no exception. He settles on his knees and sits back into the grass, wiping sweat from his face.  
"Frankie," Gerard says, and it's so weird to hear his voice after so long. "Frankie, clothes?"  
Frank nods and crawls into their den. He knows his way by heart, so he finds their nest even though his two-legger eyes can't see anything in the dark. He grabs the bundles of clothes and pushes them all out into the open.  
Frank starts dressing, listening to Gerard and Ray talk.  
"-Human trap," Ray is saying. "They scented it with something that drew us in. Some pheromone. I chewed through the wire but by the time I did the humans had shown up."  
Frank pulls on enough pieces of human clothes to cover himself from thighs to shoulders, then pushes the clothes at Gerard. He pulls on some pieces too and offers the rest to Ray.  
After Ray pulls a piece of clothing up his legs, Frank moves back in to inspect his arm. The wire isn't as deep as he had thought it was, but it's still cutting in and bleeding. Frank remembers enough about this form to know not to lick at the wound.  
"I fought them," Ray says tiredly. "I fought back the best I could in that form, but it wasn't enough."  
"Where's Mikey?" Gerard asks anxiously.  
"He didn't get out of his trap," Ray says, shaking his head. His long hair bounces around wildly. "They shot him with a tranquilizer and took him away."  
"A what?" Frank asks.  
"A tranq-" Ray starts, then shakes his head again. "It's a little dart that stings like a hornet and makes you sleep. It smells like chemicals and rot."  
Frank has never encountered something like that.  
"But Mikey," Gerard interrupts. "Where did they take him?"  
"I don't know Gerard. They put him in the back of a truck and drove off. I wanted to follow but I could barely walk. It took me almost all night to make it here."  
"Why were you wolves anyway?" Gerard demands. "I thought you chose to be humans?"  
Ray sighs. "We change once in a while, when the pull gets to be too much." He gives Gerard a sad look. "Mikey didn't want to come visit you because he thought you were still mad at him."  
Gerard makes a face that Frank can't explain. If they were wolves he would know exactly what Gerard was feeling, but his two-legger face is much harder to understand.  
"I'm not mad," Gerard says. "I used to be but I got over it. I'm just sad that he left. I missed him."  
"You could have visited us, you know," Ray says.  
"I thought Mikey hated me," Gerard says softly.  
"He doesn't."  
Gerard frowns and looks away. "We need to fix your arm then go find Mikey."  
"I need to get home," Ray tells him. "I can't risk pulling the wire out until then. I don't want to damage anything." He looks around at the forest surrounding them and sighs again. "Do you have any bandages or, or medicine that I could use until we get there?"  
Gerard looks from Ray to Frank to the entrance of their den and back again.  
"We don't have any medicine, but we can use one of the shirts as a bandage."  
Ray sighs again and Frank thinks he does that too often.  
"I don't suppose you have any shoes, huh?"  
"Nope," Gerard answers, pulling one of the pieces of clothes out of the pile and ripping it into strips. "We can wrap your feet up too."  
"Why?" Frank asks.  
Ray looks at him with an odd expression. "My feet are softer than yours, Frank. I can't walk around in the woods without getting hurt."  
Frank pokes at one of Ray's feet and frowns at how squishy it is.  
Ray winces and Frank thinks he hurt him, but when he looks up he realizes Gerard is tying strips of cloth around Ray's wound.  
"Frank," Ray says, looking really pale, "when was the last time you changed?"  
Frank frowns.  
"Years," Gerard answers. "He's changed maybe half a dozen times since we left the pack, and he didn't exactly make an effort to learn about being a two-legger before that."  
"He's practically still a wolf, even like this," Ray says, still looking at Frank weird.  
"Yeah," Gerard says, a small smile flashing across his lips for a moment before he focuses back on Ray's arm. "He likes it better that way. I do too, in fact."  
Gerard glances at Frank, who makes a confused face, but Gerard smiles so Frank smiles back.  
"Can you walk?" Gerard asks Ray once he's done wrapping up his arm and trying cloth around his feet.  
"Yeah, let's get going." Ray moves like he's about to stand up, but Gerard stops him with a hand on his shoulder.  
"Actually, we should get Frank walking first."  
Frank whines but it doesn't come out right like it would in his wolf form. He doesn't like walking.  
"I know Frankie, but you can't crawl the whole way to Ray and Mikey's house." Gerard gets to his feet and holds his hands out for Frank to take. "I'll help you."

 

Ray stays on the ground and watches as Frank re-learns to walk. He stumbles a lot and whines even more. Halfway through he throws up a pile of raw meat and Ray has to looks away for a bit.  
When Gerard finally gets him standing on two legs by himself, he comes back over to help Ray to his feet.  
"He looks like he's going to throw up again," Ray says softly.  
"Being in this form makes him sick, remember?" Gerard mutters back.  
Ray thinks back to the days when they were all in the same pack. The elders had taught them about being a wolf and being a two-legger, but Frank was never very interested in their human lessons.  
Mikey, on the other hand, had been keen on learning everything he could about life outside the forest, and when the time came for them to leave the pack and choose, Mikey and Ray had chosen to join the human world. He still remembers the fight Gerard and Mikey had gotten into.  
Ray focuses on Frank and thinks back to the life he tried to forget. Now that Gerard mentioned it, Ray actually does remember Frank always being a sickly two-legger.  
The trip from Gerard and Frank's den to Ray and Mikey's home is a long one. Frank has to stop twice more to throw up, complaining about wasting a rabbit, and Ray has to hobble along, trying not to step on any sharp twigs or rocks.  
His arm is throbbing and he's trying not to look at it too much. The wire stings where it's embedded in his flesh and he hopes he's imagining the crawling sensation of infection. In his wolf form he would've healed rapidly, but as a human he has no special abilities.  
When they finally find the path that Ray and Mikey use to get into the woods, Ray lets out a sigh of relief. They walk down the worn dirt path in single file. Gerard first, then Ray, then Frank slowly keeping up the rear. Gerard has to call back a few times to keep Frank focused on following them.  
At the edge of his backyard, Ray stops to make sure the coast is clear before they duck out of the woods and rush to the house. None of Ray's neighbors wake up at dawn, as far as he knows, but he still needs to be cautious.  
The back door is locked, but there's a key under the mat. He tells this to Gerard, who quickly opens the door, then they all go inside.  
Ray immediately goes to the dining room and sits down. He hurts all over, he's covered in dirt and sweat and blood, and the shorts Gerard and Frank offered him don't fit very well.  
Gerard pushes Frank to the floor of the dining room and tells him to stay, which Frank does, then he turns to Ray.  
"Medicine?"  
"Bathroom down the hall, on the left," Ray tells him. "Cabinet under the sink."  
Gerard leaves and Ray is left alone with Frank, who is looking around wide-eyed.  
"Have you ever been in a house before, Frank?"  
"A what?" he asks, confusion clear on his face.  
Ray thinks back again to all the things he tried to forget.  
"An above-ground home," he clarifies.  
"Oh. Nope." He shakes his head. "Gerard and me have a den. It's nice. Our nest is big."  
Ray has to fight off the assumption that Frank is stupid, because he knows it's not the case. He's a smart wolf, but the human world and it's language are almost completely foreign to him.  
"I'm glad," Ray tells him. Frank smiles, bright and happy.  
"Your above-ground home is big," Frank tells him.  
Ray and Mikey live in a small one-story home on the edge of suburbia, but to Frank the house must be huge. Having a big den is a sort of status among the wolves, so Ray knows Frank is complimenting him.  
"Thank you," he says gently.  
Frank nods and goes back to staring around at everything. The sun is starting to really rise, and Ray gets his first good look at Frank.  
He's extremely dirty and he has some nasty looking scars on his arms and legs. He's wearing an almost comical assortment of clothes; a pair of bright green soccer shorts, a too-small pink t-shirt, and a ripped, grey, men's cardigan. Gerard had put a slightly more sensible outfit together for himself; a pair of cargo shorts and a dirty, once-white undershirt.  
Ray can't wait to shower and change out of the too-small jean shorts he had borrowed. He tries not to think about how long they had probably been underground in Gerard and Frank's den.  
Gerard comes back then, arms full of bottles and creams and bandages.  
"Sorry," he says, laying everything out on the table. "I couldn't quite remember-"  
"It's fine," Ray says hurriedly. "Will you follow my instructions?"  
He has to ask because Gerard is probably not used to taking orders. Ray needs permission or else Gerard might think he's trying to take over his pack, even if his pack is only him and Frank.  
"Yes, what do I do?"  
"I need to you wash your hands, first of all. In the bathroom, with soap. There's a little brush next to the sink, scrub your nails."  
"Alright." Gerard disappears again. Ray lays his head on the table, exhausted from last night's change, his wound, and now all of this. With a pang in his chest he thinks about Mikey and how he wishes he were here to take care of him.  
"Ray?" Frank asks.  
"Yes, Frank?" he answers, not lifting his head from the table.  
"Why did the humans take Mikey?"  
Ray squeezes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath. "I don't know."  
Gerard comes back and snaps at Frank. "No more questions."  
Ray looks up in time to see Frank roll over onto his back and expose his neck. In his tired mind it takes Ray a moment to recognize it as a submissive posture.  
Gerard holds up his hands for Ray's inspection. His skin is clean and scrubbed pink all the way to his elbows and almost all the dirt has been dislodged from under his nails.  
"Good. Now, a glass of water from the kitchen, a roll of paper towels, and one of the small cloth towels."  
Gerard leaves and returns within a minute.  
Ray has him open a bottle of painkillers, which Ray takes with the entire glass of water. Then he spreads the hand towel out under his arm and they peel off the dirty, ripped up shirt.  
It looks worse than it did when it was dark out and Ray's stomach flips over. Gerard wrinkles his nose.  
"Okay," Ray says, trying to keep his voice steady. "Disinfectant first, I think."  
He hands Gerard the bottle with his good arm and tells him to pour some of it over the wound. It stings like hell, frothing with bubbles as the bacteria dies and the dirt gets washed away.  
"Now we take the wire out," Gerard says, his words sounding more like a question than a statement.  
"Yeah," Ray says, blinking hard. "Wait, get another cloth towel from the kitchen first."  
Gerard does, and Ray sticks it between his teeth, biting down hard. He nods and Gerard starts to carefully unwind the wire, pulling it out of his flesh.  
Ray groans and cries out, the noises getting muffled in the towel. From the floor he can hear Frank whining in commiseration.  
By the time the entire wire is removed, Ray is semi-conscious and sweating. He spits the towel out and puts his head back on the table.  
He instructs Gerard on cleaning the deep wounds and wrapping his arm in a bandage. He's half aware of Gerard helping him toward a couch before he passes out.

 

It's dusk when he wakes and the first thing he sees is Frank's face.  
Frank pulls back and turns his head to shout "Gerard, he's awake!"  
"I'll be right there, don't touch him!"  
Frank looks back at Ray and smiles, like he's proud of himself for doing a good job. Ray realizes Frank was acting as a watch dog and he groans out a chuckle.  
Gerard walks into the living room and Ray blinks at him. He's showered and wearing a set of Ray's clothes.  
"Hope you don't mind," Gerard says when he notices Ray's stare. "I figured you wouldn't want us dirtying up your house."  
Ray looks back to Frank and realizes he's clean as well. Ray's clothes are way too big for him and it makes him look even smaller than normal.  
"It's fine," Ray says. "Did you eat?"  
"Uh," Gerard frowns. "We were going to but I couldn't find anything that looked good?"  
 _Right_ , Ray thinks, _it's not like there's any raw meat in the fridge._  
"I'll order some pizzas," Ray says.  
Gerard fetches Ray's cell phone and Ray calls in the order for delivery. He gives Gerard some bills from his wallet and instructs him on handling the transaction.  
"Give him these and just say 'keep the change' and he'll thank you and then leave."  
While they wait, Ray takes a shower and changes.  
Half an hour later they're sitting around the coffee table eating. Ray had ordered a meat-lovers for Gerard and Frank, and a cheese for himself. It took a while to convince Frank that the pizza was actually edible, but after he tried it he absolutely fell in love.  
"Not as fun as hunting," he says through a mouth full of cheese and meat, "but really tasty!"

Once they're full, they discuss Mikey.  
"With the moonrise I can change and go find his scent," Gerard says, glancing out the window.  
"They might've reset the traps," Ray warns.  
"I'm not exactly going to run right in, Ray," Gerard says. "I'll be careful. I just want to find the scent and then I'll come back."  
Before he leaves, Gerard changes Ray's bandages and gets him more painkillers.  
"Frankie," Gerard says, "I want you to stay here with Ray in your two-legger form."  
Frank whines and actually squirms. "Gee, I feel sick."  
"Here?" Gerard asks, pointing at Frank's stomach.  
Frank nods. "Here, too," he adds, touching his head.  
Gerard frowns and looks to Ray. "There's medicine for that, right?"  
Ray picks out some headache and nausea pills from the pile of meds Gerard left on the dining room table. He has to walk Frank through the steps of how to swallow pills, but after a lot of coughing and some spilt water, he finally gets them down.  
"Okay, I'll be back before sunrise."  
Gerard walks out of the house and across the backyard, disappearing into the woods.  
Frank watches the trees for a long time out the back windows, frowning.  
"It's alright, Frank, he'll be back soon."  
"I don't like it when he's not here," Frank pouts.  
"I know how you feel," Ray sighs "I miss Mikey."  
"Gerard misses Mikey, too."  
Ray studies Frank's face in the glow from the end table lamp. "How do you know? Does he talk about it?"  
"No," Frank answers simply. "But he gets sad sometimes."  
"Why didn't you ever come visit us?" Ray asks, wanting to know Frank's answer, even if he already knows Gerard's.  
"Mikey doesn't like being a wolf," Frank says, "and Gerard and me don't like being two-leggers." He shrugs and Ray wonders briefly where he picked up the human gesture. "We don't know how to visit," he finishes.  
"When we get Mikey back," Ray says, his stomach clenching at the words, "maybe we can figure out a way to make it work."  
After an hour or so of awkward conversation, where Frank talks about things Ray can't relate to and Ray talks about things Frank doesn't understand, they evenutally just go to sleep.

With the sunrise, Gerard is back, with Mikey in tow.  
"Mikey!" Ray shouts, jumping to his feet and swaying unsteadily.  
Mikey catches him. "Easy," he says gently, setting Ray back on the couch.  
"What happened? Are you okay?" Ray demands. Dimly, he registers Gerard greeting an ecstatic Frank across the room. "Who's clothes are you wearing?"  
Mikey smiles with a twitch of his lips. "The idiots that caught me were going to sell me to some company for animal testing. When they came back and found a naked dude in their truck, they freaked. I tried to convince them I was drunk last night and got lost in the woods. They asked what happened to the wolf and I said I didn't know." He chuckles. "One of them said I was a werewolf and I laughed and asked him if _he_ was drunk too. Then, well, Gerard showed up and they were going to shoot him and I-" He stops and takes a deep breath, glancing over at his brother. "Well, between the two of us, we took care of it. I don't think anyone will find them."  
Ray pulls Mikey into a tight, one-armed hug and Mikey squeezes him back.  
"Did they taste good?" he hears Frank ask Gerard.  
Gerard chuckles and whispers back, "Not good at all."  
When Ray and Mikey pull apart, Ray turns to Gerard. "Thank you so much."  
"It's fine," he shrugs, and Ray realizes where Frank picked up the motion. "I can't have humans like that in my woods anyway."  
"We're going to have to find all the traps they laid and get rid of them," Mikey says.  
"Mikey said it would be fine," Gerard says, looking at Ray, "but I wanted to check with you as well, for your permission for us to stay here for a few days while we find all the traps. I can't have Frank running around and-"  
"Of course, it's fine," Ray says hurriedly. "You can stay as long as you want."  
"Won't be more than a few days," Gerard says uncomfortably.

Later, after Mikey re-bandages Ray's arm, they head down the hallway to their bedroom and curl up together under the blankets.  
"Are you okay, for real?" Ray asks again.  
"I'm fine," Mikey assures him. "I was passed out almost all day and my leg healed while I was under." He glances at Ray's arm. "You should have stayed a wolf until this healed."  
"I had to change to tell Gerard and Frank what had happened."  
"Yeah, about that..."  
"I didn't know what else to do, Mikes," Ray says. "I didn't know who else could help us."  
"It's fine," Mikey sighs. "Gerard and I had a long chat on the walk back here. We're gonna try and fix it, whatever's wrong between us. It won't happen overnight but, I dunno."  
Ray grins. "Frank said Gerard missed you a lot."  
Mikey makes a face. "I don't remember Frank being so... simple."  
"He's not," Ray says. "He's just, he's a wolf. Apparently he hasn't been in this form in years. He's forgotten almost everything he learned about the human world as a pup."  
Mikey rolls onto his back and puts a hand over his eyes. "God, it's so weird to talk about this after so long."  
"Yeah, it is."  
"We made the right choice, right Ray? I mean, you're happy here, right?"  
"Of course I am," Ray says, pulling Mikey closer with his good arm. "I'm happy with you where ever we are."  
"But I mean, do you miss being a wolf?"  
Ray shrugs, and oh God now he's doing it too. "I enjoy the nights when we change, but I like our house and the life we have here. I don't regret anything we've done."  
Mikey lets out a long breath and uncovers his eyes.  
"Good. I'm glad."

 

**Two years later**

 

Frank wakes up and stretches, muscles pulling and joints cracking. He doesn't really like the big cushion on the floor that Ray and Mikey bought for him, but it's better than the couch that Gerard likes to sleep on.  
Gerard smiles at him when he walks into the kitchen where everyone is sitting around drinking the gross black drink they call coffee. Ray pours him a glass of apple juice instead, which he _does_ like.  
The three of them are eating breakfast and talking about stuff Frank doesn't care about. There's a pile of bacon set aside for him, and he happily digs in. He watches the birds outside the window for a while.  
He still doesn't like being in his two-legger form, but the medicine that Ray and Mikey gets for him makes it less awful than it used to be. They only ever visit for a week or so every few months anyway.  
Mikey teases him sometimes about stuff he does or says as a two-legger, but it's okay because Mikey is really terrible at being a wolf, so Frank gets to tease him about that. Plus, Frank _always_ wins their play-fights.  
"So..." Gerard says. "Frank and I are adopting some pups."  
Frank looks up because this is something he knows about.  
"Oh my God," Mikey says.  
"Congratulations!" Ray adds.  
Gerard's face turns red, which at first Frank thought meant he was getting sick, but Ray told him it's called blushing and it happens when someone's embarrassed.  
Frank smiles. "Gerard said I'm gonna be a good dad."  
Mikey chuckles and Ray hits his arm.  
"I'm sure you will be," Ray tells him. Frank nods happily and picks up another piece of bacon.  
"I checked in with the pack," Gerard says, "and apparently there were a lot of pups born this spring and they just can't handle them all. I was thinking they could learn about being wolves with us and then, maybe, come visit their uncles to learn about the human world?"  
"Of course!" Ray says happily, and loudly.  
"Wait," Mikey cuts in. "How many pups are we talking about?"  
"Only four," Gerard shrugs.  
"Only?!" Mikey cries.  
Frank giggles as the three of them all start talking at once. He goes back to watching the birds outside the window and thinking about how fun it's going to be to have pups in their den.


	2. The Pups

Gerard rolls his eyes and grins when he hears Mikey calling for him from the living room again. He finishes getting his coffee then goes to see what it is _this_ time.  
Mikey is sitting on one of the couches with Frank, holding a huge baby naming book. Ray is sitting across from them on the other couch, looking like he's trying not to laugh.  
"He wants to name them after _flowers_ , Gerard," Mikey sighs. "Tell him he can't name them after flowers."  
Gerard glances into the corner of the room where the four pups are sleeping piled together on a cushion. Frank whines.  
"You said," he tells Gerard.  
"He's right Mikey," Gerard chuckles, sitting down next to Ray and sipping his coffee. "I promised Frank he could name two of them."  
"But _flowers?_ " Mikey groans. "Why not normal names, or at least something more... intimidating?"  
"Frank, what names did you pick out?" Gerard asks.  
"Rose for the girl pup," he answers happily. "Because roses are pretty to look at but they bite you if you try to pick them."  
Gerard smiles. "That's a wonderful name, Frankie."  
Frank bounces on the couch with glee then sticks his tongue out at Mikey.  
"That's not the one I have a problem with," Mikey sighs.  
"What other name did you pick out?" Gerard asks.  
"Chrysanthamum."  
"See?" Mikey cries, immediately getting shushed by Ray so he doesn't wake the pups. Mikey continues in a loud whisper. "That's a ridiculous name for a wolf!"  
"Chris for short," Gerard shrugs. "Sounds fine to me."  
Frank would bark if he could, but instead he just leans across the coffee table to plant a messy kiss on the corner of Gerard's mouth.  
Gerard and Ray chuckle and Mikey rubs his forehead.  
"Fine. Chris is a good name."  
"Did you pick out a name yet, Gerard?" Ray asks.  
"I was thinking... William," Gerard admits. "For the grey pup."  
Frank beams at him and Mikey nods.  
"That's a good name," Ray says.  
"Did you guys pick your name yet?" Gerard asks.  
Ray and Mikey glance at each other.  
"I still have veto power," Gerard adds. "So if you were thinking of Hank or Keith or-"  
"Benjamin," Mikey says.  
Gerard smiles. "I like that. Frankie?"  
"I like Benjamin," he nods.  
"Rose, Chris, Will, and Ben," Ray sums up.  
"They're good names," Gerard smiles.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Frank bats his tail from side to side lazily, letting Chrysanthemum pounce and bite, trying to catch it. He's getting bigger, and one day he might actually succeed.  
From across the clearing he can see Gerard monitoring Rose and William as they tackle each other. A few feet away from Frank, Benjamin is laying by himself, watching his brothers and sister.  
He hears Rose whine and automatically whines in return. Gerard knocks the two pups over, breaking up their play-fight. William licks at Rose's muzzle in apology and she lets him.  
She's still smaller than the boys, but she's fast and Frank knows she'll be a good hunter one day. She's smarter than them too, when they're in their two-legger form. Or so Mikey says.  
The pups are going back to visit Mikey and Ray soon, and Frank's going to miss them. He knows it's important for them to know about each world, but Frank selfishly hopes that when the time comes, they'll chose to stay in their wolf forms.  
Chrysanthemum eventually gets bored with Frank's tail and circles around to lick at Frank's face. Frank shakes him off, so Chrysanthemum curls up between his forepaws and closes his eyes.  
Benjamin pads over and curls up against Frank's chest as well.  
Frank looks across the clearing to see William's tail drooping. Rose takes advantage of his exhaustion and pins him.  
When she lets him up, Gerard nudges them with his nose and heads over to Frank with the pups trailing behind him.  
Gerard leans down to nuzzle Frank and Frank licks at his mouth. Gerard nudges the other pups awake and they start the short trip back to the den.  
They'll get a few hours to sleep before the sun rises and they shift.  
Frank ducks into the tunnel first, followed by the pups. Gerard comes in after he pees around the entrance to mask the scent of wolf pups from predators.  
The pups pile up on their newly built nest and Frank licks all their sleepy faces goodnight before retreating to his and Gerard's nest.  
They curl up together and get almost an hour of sleep before Benjamin wakes them up by crawling into the nest with them.  
Chrysanthemum joins them a short while later, and William right after. Rose is the last to hold out before she crawls into her fathers' nest as well.  
It always happens before the pups go to visit the human world, and Frank and Gerard let them crawl on top of them and wiggle into the warm spaces between their bodies before falling back asleep.

The pups wake them up at the crack of dawn, yipping and growling and biting their ears. Gerard growls, the sound much deeper than the pups' growls, and they all jump away from him and pile on top of Frank, who just rolls his eyes and lets them.  
Eventually they succeed in waking Frank and Gerard up, and the whole family troops outside to shift, except Rose, who shifts in the den then crawls out, brushing dirt from the dress she pulled on.  
The boys all pull on shorts and t-shirts, then they start the walk to Ray and Mikey's.  
"I totally pinned you!" Rose tells William.  
"You did not, you cheated!"  
"It's not cheating to take advantage of your prey's weaknesses!" Rose yells. "Uncle Mikey said it's a smart way to hunt."  
Chrysanthemum appears next to Frank and reaches up to hold his hand. Frank squeezes his fingers gently.  
"You _have_ to cheat because you're so small!" William tells her.  
"Nuh-uh! Take that back!"  
"Little baby Rose!" William teases.  
Rose jumps on William and tackles him to the ground, shoving his face in the leaves.  
"Hey!" Gerard barks. He grabs Rose and pulls her off her brother. William stands up, face red with embarrassment. "Apologize to each other."  
"Sorry," they both mutter.  
"You know better than to behave like that when you're in your two-legger form."  
"Sorry, Papa."  
They start walking again, but Frank pauses when Benjamin lags behind.  
"Daddy, can I ride on your shoulders?" he asks.  
Frank leans over so Benjamin can climb up. He grabs onto Frank's hair to keep steady. Frank takes Chrysanthemum's hand again and they continue through the woods.  
"You feel sick already?" Frank asks.  
"Yeah," Benjamin whines.  
"Make sure you ask your uncles for medicine," Frank tells him.  
Gerard walks ahead of them to keep an eye on Rose and William, who have started arguing again, this time over who will catch their first rabbit, so Frank doesn't bother rushing. Rose and William, the smallest and the biggest of their adopted litter, have more energy combined than Frank ever had as a pup. Gerard is better at discipline than Frank, so he's usually the one to stick with their two little trouble makers.  
Frank likes to keep an eye on Benjamin; who's only a tad bigger than Rose and always lags behind, and Chrysanthemum; who is more likely to stick his nose in a bee hive than the other pups.  
Once Frank caught Chrysanthemum trying to play with a snake, which Frank promptly killed, and the pup got a very long lecture from his uncle Ray about things-that-aren't-prey the next time they went to visit.

When they reach the edge of the woods, Gerard hushes the pups and checks to make sure no one is looking before they all hurry toward the house.  
Ray opens the door for them and they file inside. Rose immediately goes to clean up and change, while William and Chrysanthemum ask if breakfast is ready.  
They find Mikey in the kitchen, cooking up a huge stack of pancakes and bacon.  
"Will, Chris," says Mikey. "Come set the table."  
"Uncle Ray?" Benjamin asks softly. "Can I have medicine?"  
Ray smiles and lifts Benjamin off Frank's shoulders. "Of course, let's go find some."  
Ray leads Benjamin toward the hall closet where they keep all their medicine and first aid supplies now, and Frank takes a seat at the table next to Gerard.  
Once everyone is settled at the table, Frank watches his family while he chews on a bacon strip.  
Mikey is scolding William for getting syrup all over his hands, Ray is cutting up Benjamin's pancakes for him, Rose is using the silverware and napkins like she's supposed to, and Chrysanthamum is picking the chocolate chips out of his pancakes to eat.  
Frank sets his head on Gerard's shoulder and smiles. He knows his pups will be in good hands when Gerard and Frank return to the forest at moonrise.

 

The End.


End file.
